Western Red Cedar for Timber Construction and Landscape Structures

Fasteners and Connectors
Hot-dipped galvanized, aluminum and stainless steel fasteners are all corrosion-resistant and can be used to fasten Western Red Cedar. Other types of nails are not recommended. They can rust and disintegrate and react adversely with the natural preservative oils present in cedar resulting in unsightly stains and streaks. Copper nails also react with cedar and should not be used. Stainless steel fasteners are the best choice, especially if the wood is to be finished with transparent or semi-transparent stain. Use No. 304 stainless steel for general applications and No. 316 for seacoast exposure.

Large members require timber connectors other than nails. Bolts, lag screws, split rings and shear plates, and custom made hardware are commonly used in heavy timber structures where the jointÕs strength must be greater than that which could be achieved with nails. These types of connectors should be corrosion-resistant or suitably coated to prevent corrosion and staining. Generally, the design of mechanically fastened joints must take into consideration a variety of factors such as end- and edge-spacing distances, moisture content, service conditions, and the effect of the number of connectors used. Because the cost of fabricating and installing connections may amount to a large percentage of the cost of a heavy timber structure, it is important to engineer the details of a structure before designing the timber members.